How the 4th War was Really Won
by kitsunescythe
Summary: It's the final battle. Naruto and Sasuke vs. Madara, and Madara has both his Rinnegan eyes. How will the heroes defeat the greatest threat the Shinobi world has ever faced? The answer can only come from the #1 Unpredictable Ninja.
1. How the War was Won

"What are we gonna do, Sasuke?" Naruto asked as he crouched on the ground breathing heavily. He was still in his Six Paths Sage Technique, and Sasuke still had his fully-formed Rinnegan activated. "We're running out of time."

Madara had succeeded in obtaining his left eye from Obito, who was now lying on the ground next to Kakashi close to death but holding on to watch the end of the fight. Sakura was standing on the other side of Kakashi, ready to heal her old teammates if they needed it, but so far she was unnecessary as the only problem the two boys had so far (besides defeating Madara) was exhaustion. She was remembering what Obito had said about Madara obtaining his other eye.

_"If he gets both eyes, he'll be unstoppable. No one will be able to defeat him."_

Sakura shuddered. _"Sasuke-kun, Naruto...what're you guys gonna do?"_

"We need to take out his eyes somehow," Sasuke answered the blonde next to him. "But how?"

Naruto at first frowned at his friend's statement of the obvious, but then he got to thinking. _"Take out his eyes, huh? Hmm…. Hehehehe! Well, if __**we**__ can't take out his eyes, maybe we can get him to do it himself."_ He turned to Sasuke and held up a hand next to his face to prevent Madara from reading his lips. "Sasuke," he whispered. The raven-haired boy looked at him. "I've got a plan."

Madara cocked an eyebrow as he watched the blonde boy whisper something to Sasuke. The only reason he hadn't killed them yet was because he was still finding his fight with them amusing, but now he was starting to get bored. _"Might as well let them finish making their little plan, though. It may just give me a bit more amusement before I kill them."_

Suddenly, it seemed they were done plotting as Sasuke rushed toward Madara and began attacking him with renewed zeal. He made sure to keep in front of Madara so he couldn't see Naruto. Growing tired of the black-haired boy's pathetic attacks, Madara smacked Sasuke away. He never saw the smirk cross Sasuke's face; all was going according to plan.

As soon as Sasuke was out of the way, the evil old sage turned his attention back to Naruto…who wasn't there.

_"Where'd he go?"_ Madara wondered as he looked around. Then he felt a tap on his shoulder. Spinning around while throwing a fist at whoever was behind him, Madara suddenly came face to face with a blue-eyed, whisker-faced woman with her long blonde hair tied up in pigtails. Oh, and she was naked. She had ducked under Madara's fist and now looked up at him through her lashes, pouting.

"Moh…you shouldn't hit a lady," the girl whined. Then she stepped toward the old sage, moving seductively. "Why don't you stop fighting now, huh, sweetie?" she asked in a sultry voice as she draped her arms over his shoulders and looked deep into his eyes.

Madara, to say the least, was in a bit of shock. While the whisker-marks might've been a dead giveaway, his mind still hadn't gotten past the "naked girl" part. A naked girl who was rather well-endowed and currently pressed up against him.

Before he finished processing what she'd said to him, there was another woman hanging onto his arm. This new girl had smoldering black eyes and her long hair, which she wore loose, was as dark as a moonless night. She too was naked.

"Yeah, if you stop fighting, then the three of us can have a _really_ good time," the second woman purred as she winked at the old sage.

Madara barely registered the trickle of blood coming out of his nose as he watched the girls step back. They each blew a kiss at him and told him they wanted to show him something. He just nodded dumbly, and the two girls quickly stood up straight, making their endowments bounce. Blood trickled farther from Madara's nose…but then it happened.

The two girls suddenly turned into Might Guy and Rock Lee wearing speedos. Then they turned to each other while crying anime tears and shouted,

"LEE!"

"GUY-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GUY-SENSEI!"

And then they hugged as the sunset-over-the-ocean genjutsu appeared behind them.

"AAAAAHHHH! MY EYES! MY EYES! MAKE IT STOP!" Madara screamed as he tore at his eyes.

Naruto and Sasuke dropped their transformations and took the opportunity to throw a final attack at Madara. They caught the evil old sage between Naruto's Rasengan and Sasuke's Chidori, pushing as much power as they could into their attacks. With a final scream, Madara disintegrated and thus was dead. Once and for all.

After the dust settled, Sakura, Kakashi, and now everyone else who was still able to move—including Hinata—could see Naruto and Sasuke lying on their backs on the ground. Their heads were next to each other, but their feet were pointing in opposite directions.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelled as she rushed toward her blonde love, hoping he was all right. Sakura followed closely behind, filled with concern for both her teammates. Though if she was honest with herself, she'd have to admit she was slightly more concerned for Sasuke.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata cried again as she knelt next to him. He opened his eyes slightly and gave her a tired smile.

"Hey, Hinata-chan," Naruto greeted her weakly. "Glad you're alright. Did we win?"

With tears in her eyes, Hinata nodded and replied, "Yes, Naruto-kun. You won."

"Then why are you crying?" Naruto asked as he struggled to raise his hand and began wiping away her tears.

Hinata held his hand to her face and smiled softly. "I'm just glad you're alright, Naruto-kun."

His smile broadened until he heard, "NARUTO!"

_"Oh…crap,"_ he thought as he cringed.

While Hinata had been checking on Naruto, Sakura was making sure Sasuke was okay. Sasuke was half-heartedly brushing off Sakura's ministrations, but she still managed to make sure he was all right. And from what she could see with Naruto, he was fine as well. The two boys were just both very tired. But just as her relief started to settle in, Sakura remembered what Naruto and Sasuke had done to defeat Madara.

A vein popped up in her forehead, and she shouted, "NARUTO!"

The boy in question fearfully looked over at his pink-haired teammate and asked in a shaky voice, "Yes, Sakura?"

"You're such a pervert!" she yelled.

"Hey! Sasuke did it too!" Naruto argued.

"Only because you convinced him too! He would never have done such a thing on his own!"

"Yeah, well—" Naruto was cut off by a gentle hand on his face, and he turned to its owner. "Hinata-chan?"

The blue-haired girl smiled sweetly at him and said, "Allow me, Naruto-kun." Then she stood up, stepped over him, and pulled the fuming pinkette to her feet. "Sakura-san, leave him be."

"But—"

"No," Hinata said firmly with a fierce glint in her eyes. "Do not yell at him anymore. What they did—and Sasuke-san was part of it whether you like it or not—just saved the world. That's all that matters. Now," she began as she turned back to Naruto, who was stunned by the normally shy girl's actions but also happy that she saved him from Sakura's wrath, and put his arm around her shoulder and helped him up, "these two need medical attention and rest. I suggest you help Sasuke-san."

Hinata then began moving toward the other ninjas gathered around, who started to cheer, and Sakura quickly helped Sasuke up and caught up with Hinata and Naruto. The two guys were next to each other in the middle and they cast a glance at each other.

"Naruto?"

"Yeah, Sasuke?"

"We will never speak of any of that ever again."

Naruto knew what he meant: the Sexy Jutsu (and the fact that he got Sasuke to perform it) and the Rock Lee/Guy-sensei moment. He mentally laughed at the first part and shuddered at the second before nodding to his friend. "Right."

Later, the boys were resting in a medical tent, and for the moment they were alone. While they were both extremely tired, neither of them were ready to let sleep claim them just yet. Sasuke eventually broke the silence.

"Naruto?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

"What's going on between you and Hinata?"

Had he not been laying down, Naruto would've face-faulted at the out-of-nowhere question. "W-What?" Naruto stammered. "Why're you asking?"

Sasuke shrugged, although Naruto couldn't see it, and simply replied, "Just curious. When she ran up to you and didn't faint when you touched her face, I was surprised. So I was wondering if you finally stopped being an idiot and noticed her."

Now it was Naruto's turn to surprise Sasuke. Rather than shout in indignation about being called an idiot like he normally would, the blonde ninja said, "Nope."

The former missing-nin was indeed surprised and looked over at the blonde. Naruto continued, "I never noticed. In fact, I think I'd still be completely clueless had she not told me flat out how she feels about me."

"She _told_ you?" Sasuke asked incredulously. "I never thought she'd have the guts."

"Hey, she's braver than you'd think," Naruto defended Hinata. "I mean after all, she was in the middle of trying to protect me from an enemy she knew she had no chance against when she told me."

Now Sasuke was really shocked. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, when Pain attacked Konoha and I fought him, he managed to pin me to the ground with his chakra rods," Naruto told him. "If it wasn't for Hinata, I would've been carried off, had Kurama extracted from me, and died. She saved my life, and nearly lost her own in the process."

Sasuke was silent a moment before asking, "What happened?"

The blonde ninja shrugged. "I was pinned to the ground, Hinata jumped in, told me she loves me, Pain stabbed her, and I…I nearly released the Fox." Naruto paused for a second as he mentally cringed at the memory. "I managed to suppress the Fox before he got out completely, and then I killed Pain. End of story."

Sasuke nodded, satisfied with the answer, but he was still curious about his friend and the blue-haired kunoichi. "So are you and Hinata together now?"

"What? No, we're still just friends," Naruto replied.

The black-haired ninja couldn't believe he heard that. "What? You turned her down? Why? Do you really want Sakura that bad?"

"Huh?! No, I didn't turn her down! I just…never talked to her about her confession…" Naruto trailed off, feeling ashamed now that he realized how bad that made him sound.

"Are you serious?!"

"Well, I never really had a chance to afterward!" Naruto defended himself. "I was recovering after the fight, then you became an Akatsuki member and earned a kill-on-sight status, and I rushed off to try and stop the Raikage from killing you! Then the next thing I know after that, I'm being sent off on some S-ranked mission, which I later found out was just a trick to try to keep me out of the war! I kinda had a lot on my plate!"

Sasuke just looked at Naruto, and the blonde sighed. "Look, I know I should've talked to her, but with everything else going on and the fact that I didn't know what to say…" he sighed again, "I chickened out, okay? You happy now?"

A silence fell over the two as Naruto glared at the tent ceiling and Sasuke continued to stare at Naruto. Then the silence was broken by an unusual sound. A pretty-much-never-heard-before sound. Sasuke's laughter.

It started out a quiet chuckle and soon became a hearty, genuine laugh that caused tears to prick the corners of Sasuke's eyes. Meanwhile, Naruto's scowl deepened with every second.

Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore and shouted, "WHAT'S SO FUNNY, TEME?!" He glared at the former missing-nin.

Sasuke managed to reign in his laughter enough to reply, "You really are such a dobe!" Then a new wave of amusement hit him and he was finding it hard to breathe.

"What d'ya mean?! STOP LAUGHING AT ME!"

Sasuke had to bite his hand hard to calm down, but he was still snickering as he told the blonde ninja, "All this time, you've been chasing Sakura while never noticing the one girl who was in love with you. Then when you find out about her, you run from her. It's like you _want_ to keep yourself unhappy. You're such a dobe!"

Naruto growled at him, but couldn't argue with what he said. He turned away from Sasuke and ignored his snickering as he tried to figure some things out. _"Is that really what I'm doing? Am I trying to be unhappy? Why didn't I just give Hinata a chance? I knew Sakura wouldn't happen ever since she begged me to bring Sasuke back when he first left. And honestly, it didn't bother me as much as I thought it would—to accept that she'd never feel that way about me. I mean yeah, it hurt, but nowhere near as bad as some of the other crap I've been through. Losing my best friend to the Snake-teme hurt more. So was I ever really in love with her? Or was it just a stupid crush?_

_"Why not give Hinata a chance? Am I really just trying to make myself unhappy? No… It's more than that. I'm also…scared. Heh. Me, Naruto Uzumaki, afraid of something. Geez. But I am afraid. Afraid that things won't work out between me and her. That I'll actually fall in love with her and then get my heart broken. Man, that makes me sound like such a loser. What if things go great between us? What if she's the one for me? She's apparently loved me this whole time, and I don't see anything about her that would be hard to love. Granted, I don't know her as well as I'd like, but I could change that—"_

"Naruto-kun?"

The blonde ninja was broken out of his thoughts by a soft voice, the owner of which being the very subject of his thoughts. Naruto smiled at her.

"Hey, Hinata-chan," he greeted her quietly as he saw with a quick glance that Sasuke had laughed himself to sleep. "What're you doing here?"

"W-Well," she began, stuttering nervously, "I-I just wanted to see how y-you were doing…"

Naruto's smile softened as he watched her fidget and avoid his gaze. Deciding to take a chance, the blonde grabbed her hand and said, "Thanks for worrying about me, Hinata-chan."

The blue-haired kunoichi smiled gently at him for a brief moment, but withdrew her hand as the smile faded. Confused by this, Naruto sat up and asked, "Hinata-chan? What's wrong?"

"N-Naruto-kun, I…I heard w-what you said…to Sasuke-san," she told him.

Naruto was in a mixture of shock and shame. "H-How much d-did you hear?" his stammer matching her own.

"All of it," she said quietly.

The blonde ninja looked away. "Hinata, I'm so sorry. I—"

She once again silenced him by placing a gentle hand on his cheek, and she turned his head to look at her. "Naruto-kun, it's okay. I'm not mad. I just want to know why. What's the real reason you didn't talk to me? Are you really trying to be unhappy like Sasuke-san said? Or is it because you love Sakura?"

Naruto looked deep into her lavender eyes and grabbed her hand that was still cupping his cheek. He pulled it down and held it between both of his hands.

"Neither," he answered her, never breaking his gaze from hers. "My crush on Sakura more or less died the day she begged me to bring back the teme over there when he left, and honestly, it didn't bother me nearly as bad as the teme's leaving did. So I don't think I ever really loved her. As for me trying to be unhappy, though, well…I don't think I'm _trying_ to be. I think it's more subconsoss—"

"Subconscious," Hinata corrected him gently with a small smile.

"Yeah, that's it. It's more a subconscious thing," he explained, smiling at her. Then his smile faded and he looked down at the blanket on his lap. "The reason I didn't talk to you about…what you said…and what you did…is because I was afraid. I didn't know it at the time, but now that I think about it, I'm sure that's what it was."

"Afraid?" Hinata asked as she tilted her head to the side in confusion. A gesture Naruto couldn't help but find cute. "Afraid of what?"

Naruto took a deep breath. "That you and I wouldn't work out. That I'd get my heart broken, or I'd end up breaking yours. Or that you'd get hurt because of me." He looked up at her again. "I couldn't bear any of those things." Hinata looked sad at that, but Naruto wasn't done yet. "But then I thought, what if everything did work out between us? What if you're the one for me?"

Hinata's breath caught in her throat, and Naruto leaned a little bit closer to her. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, while I'm still scared of the bad that could happen, the possible good makes it worth the chance." Then he chuckled lightly as he said, "And my gambles usually turn out in my favor." His face grew serious again. "But I have to know, Hinata-chan. Do you still feel the same about me? Can you forgive me for ignoring your first confession? Do you still love me in spite of that?"

Rather than answering verbally, Hinata opted for grabbing the back of Naruto's head with her free hand and pulling him to her. She pressed her lips firmly to his own, putting all her love and affection for him into the kiss. Naruto was surprised at first, but quickly recovered and wrapped his arms around Hinata and pulled her closer as he responded to her kiss.

After a minute, they parted, gasping for air. Hinata was blushing madly, but proud of herself for not fainting. Naruto, who was also blushing—though not as badly as Hinata—however, had a glazed look in his eyes as he just stared into space.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, growing concerned. The boy in question swayed a little and then fell back, his head landing on his pillow. Hinata knelt over him as she checked to make sure he was okay. She breathed a sigh of relief when she realized his exhaustion had finally gotten to him.

In a bizarre twist and for the first time ever, Naruto Uzumaki had fainted in front of Hinata Hyuuga.

Hinata giggled at that thought before laying down next to Naruto and snuggling up against his side. Life would be good from now on, and she knew it.


	2. The Trip Home & Explanations

Wow. I can't believe this story was liked so much. I really just wrote it in one night. I mean, I've had the idea bouncing around in my head for awhile, but it was nowhere near fully formed until I started writing it. And it was more well-received than the other story I'm writing, and I put more thought into the other one... I don't know if that's funny or sad.

I'll think I'll choose the positive route and take it to mean I can do humor and romance fairly well. :)

And in my gratitude for the uplifting reviews I've received, I'll take a moment to respond to you awesome people. ^_^

**BentShuriken**: Thank you! And yes, yes he did. What else could we expect from the #1 Unpredictable Ninja? Hahaha. As much as I'd like to see Naruto take down Madara in some epic fashion, I'd love it if he took my idea here.

**Rose Tiger**: This was actually just going to be a one-shot, but I guess I can keep going if you want me too. :) I'll at least make it a two-shot unless people want me to keep going after this. Thanks for liking it!

**Flameraven1**: I take it you don't normally like Sasuke? Honestly, I can't say I'm a fan of him, nor do I really dislike him. I think he needs a punch in the face for the "I'm gonna be Hokage" comment, but otherwise he's meh to me. I do generally like stories where he and Naruto have the best friend/brother relationship, but I've read a few where he was the biggest jerk there ever was and eventually ends up dead. I chose the former for this story, though, obviously. I like happy endings for everyone.

And thanks! I don't know if I'd say my idea was inspired necessarily. Surely, someone else had the idea before, and the thought made me laugh so I wrote it. But thank you for the compliment. ^_^

**madeyemoody95**: I know, right? I'd laugh so hard if Kishi had made this happen. And it has an "everything coming full-circle" kind of feel to it, ya know? Naruto's first original jutsu being the key to winning the war, and Kishi did make a point of making all the older guys in the story being perverts or closet perverts. So I figured no one's older than Madara in the story (not counting the Sage dude), so maybe that makes him the biggest pervert of them all. Hahaha.

Glad you liked it! I hope you like this one just as much!

**Plasma57**: That's what I was goin' for. ^_^ And thank you! I don't know how shameless it is to laugh at one's own joke, but I was cracking up as I was writing all that. I can just picture that in the manga/anime, though, and the image is just hysterical to me. Hope you like this chapter as well. I don't know if I'll continue beyond this, but if I can think of anymore to add, then I will.

**p13600d**: I'm glad! You should never stop laughing! :D

**hinataellis**: Thank you!

**gwb620**: I know right?! I think it would make up for Kishi giving the bad guys such horrible cheats this whole time. Think about it. All those cheats, such as the invincibility mode they seem to have on as well as an infinite chakra cheat, and Madara still couldn't withstand a combination of Sexy Jutsu and Guy and Lee's horrid genjutsu. I think it'd be awesome if Kishi had done that to Madara in the end. Hahaha.

**dragonball256**: Thank you! And yup! Ridiculous indeed. :P

That's it for the reviews! You guys are awesome. And even if you didn't review but followed and/or favorited this story, then you're still awesome too. ^_^

Disclaimer: Guess I should've put this on the first chapter, but I don't own Naruto. If I did, all this stuff I'm writing would've happened in the manga/anime. And some of the more awesome Naruto fics I've seen would be made into alternate canon stories.

Also, as a more personal, less legal, disclaimer: I'm not entirely sure who's alive and who's dead at this point in the actual manga/anime, so if I say someone's alive or dead when they're really not, just roll with it. You can—nicely—let me know in a PM, but I don't want to know in a review. And don't expect me to fix my mistake if it's more trouble than it's worth.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The next morning, Naruto woke up to feeling something silky against his face and the smell of lavender flooding his nose. In his arms was something soft and warm and apparently...breathing?

Confused, the blonde boy cracked open one blue eye only to see that his nose was buried in someone's hair, which was a beautiful shade of indigo. He then noticed the hair was the source of the smell.

_"But who do I know with dark blue hair?"_ Naruto asked himself as his sleep-muddled brain tried to figure the situation out.

Then suddenly it hit him: everything that had happened the day before. How he and Sasuke fought and defeated Madara (and how they won exactly), Sasuke's asking him about Hinata, said girl overhearing him about her, and then...the kiss. A kiss that had been so amazing his already tired mind couldn't handle it, thus causing it to shut down. Granted, it was his first one (since he refused to acknowledge a certain incident with a particular Uchiha), but he was fairly certain beyond a reasonable doubt that a kiss that amazing had to mean something. And he really wanted to find out just what.

Lifting his head, Naruto shifted to where he could see the quiet kunoichi's face. She had an adorably peaceful expression as she snuggled into his chest, and Naruto hated to wake her. But he wanted to start getting to know her better right away as well as—he hoped—get another kiss, so he nuzzled her cheek while whispering into her ear.

"Time to wake up, my hime."

The blue-haired girl stirred and looked up into those beautiful ocean-blue eyes she loved so much, and thinking this was nothing more than one of her many Naruto dreams, she just smiled at him before pulling him down into a kiss. The blonde boy responded immediately even while he was surprised at Hinata's uncharacteristic lack of shyness. But when she started kissing his neck and unzipping his jacket, he thought maybe he should stop her to see what was up.

Pushing her back gently, Naruto looked into her lavender eyes and asked, "Hinata-chan?"

The girl in question didn't answer and just tried to move back to his face to continue kissing him, but the blonde hero held her back.

"Hey, Hinata-chan, not that I mind kissing you, but something seems off. Are you okay?" Naruto asked with concern.

Now Hinata was confused. Never had any Dream Naruto stopped her from doing whatever she wanted or asked her if she was okay. But neither had any Dream Naruto been as an incredible a kisser before either now that she thought about it.

And with that realization, the memories of the previous day's end came back to her, and Hinata turned a shade of red that any tomato could admire.

"N-Naruto-kun? Th-This isn't a dream, i-is it?" Hinata asked hesitantly.

As soon as Naruto saw her face go red, he knew she was back to normal. Even more so when he heard her stutter too.

He chuckled lightly and said, "No, Hinata-hime. It's not a dream. But I do find it flattering that you dream about me."

Hinata, however, felt like Naruto was laughing at her and turned away from him to hide her face. But thankfully, Naruto's obliviousness decided to take a day off, and he sensed she was upset.

"What's wrong, Hinata-chan?" he asked as he tried to turn her over to look at him.

But she refused to move. "Y-You l-l-laughed a-at m-m-me," the blue-haired girl stutter-sobbed.

"Oi, I did not," Naruto protested gently, feeling his heart clench painfully at the thought that he made her cry, even if it was inadvertently. "I just thought your shyness was cute, and you gotta admit, a girl as pretty as you dreaming about some unimportant guy like me is rather flattering."

Hinata slowly turned back around, and the grip on Naruto's heart tightened when he saw her tear-streaked face. "Y-You m-mean it?"

"Of course I do," the whisker-faced boy reassured her quietly. "Please don't cry, Hime. I'd rather have to face Madara again without any of my sage abilities than see you sad at all." He then wiped her eyes with his thumb. "Please forgive me?"

Hinata nuzzled into his chest again. "O-Of course I do, Naruto-kun. I sh-shouldn't have thought you'd ever be m-mean enough to laugh at me. And y-you're not 'some unimportant guy' at all. You're v-very important to me. F-Forgive me?"

Naruto held her tighter. "Hey, there's nothing to forgive. Now come on," he said as he put a hand under her chin and raised her head so she was looking at him. "We were having such a nice morning. I say we get back to it." And he gently pressed his lips against her own. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck, and they continued on in such a way until they heard someone clear their throat from the tent entrance.

"Having fun, you two?" the person asked.

Naruto and Hinata's eyes snapped open, and the two teens slowly broke away as they looked to see who the newcomer was. Seeing it was none other than the Fifth Hokage, the blue-haired girl was mortified and buried her crimson face in Naruto's chest. The blonde hero, however, wasn't embarrassed in the least. In fact, he was irritated that he and Hinata had been interrupted, and now he was bordering on angry for Tsunade causing Hinata to feel so uncomfortable.

"Yeah, we were, Baa-chan," Naruto replied crossly. "Do you mind?"

Tsunade was momentarily taken aback by his rude behavior, but quickly adjusted. "Listen, gaki, you may be the big hero and all, but I'm still your Hokage. So watch the attitude"

Naruto, however, wasn't willing to back down so easily. "Well, you embarrassed Hinata-chan," he said as an excuse.

The blonde Hokage's expression softened as she looked at the blue-haired girl still hiding her face in Naruto's chest. Sighing, she replied, "Alright, I'm sorry for that." She walked over and knelt behind Hinata and touched her shoulder lightly. "Please stop hiding, Hinata, and go get you and Naruto some breakfast while I check his condition. Okay?"

Without looking up, the shy kunoichi nodded and got to her feet. As she headed to the tent flap, she heard Naruto say, "Hurry back, Hinata-chan!" She gave him a bashful smile before walking out of the tent.

Once she was gone, Tsunade began scanning the blonde boy with her medical jutsu, and Naruto asked her, "So where's Sasuke-teme?"

"He woke up already and is out around the camp," she told him. Then a mischievous smile crossed her face as she added, "Though he did get a few pictures of you and Hinata all snuggled-up together before he left."

Now, Naruto's face did turn red and he tried to stand up as he shouted, "What?! That jerk!"

Laughing, the blonde woman held him down. "Calm down, gaki. I was kidding," she said in between chuckles. "Where would Sasuke have gotten a camera?"

The whisker-marked boy stopped struggling, but narrowed his eyes at her. "There's no pictures?"

"Nope," she responded as she finished her scan.

"Good. There better not be. I don't think Hinata-chan would appreciate that," Naruto said simply.

Tsunade looked at him for a moment. "You really care about her, don't you?" she more stated than asked.

But Naruto answered anyway. "Yeah, of course I do. I mean, before she was one of my precious people, but now..." he trailed off.

"But now she's in the top spot?" Tsunade implied.

"Yeah," he replied as a dreamy smile crossed his face. "I mean, I can't say I love her yet, but I know this is stronger than I've ever felt for someone before. Even Sakura."

Tsunade smiled happily and hugged Naruto. "I'm glad, gaki. If anyone deserves happiness, it's the two of you, and I think you both are the best people to give that happiness to each other."

Returning the hug, the blonde boy just said, "Thanks, Baa-chan."

She broke the embrace and smacked him lightly on the head in response to his nickname for her. As he rubbed his head and smiled sheepishly, she told him, "That reminds me, Naruto. You and I are gonna talk about how you took down Madara soon."

"Aw, why?" the blonde hero groaned. "It saved the world, so what difference does it make?"

Just then, Hinata came back into the tent carrying a large tray with two huge bowls of ramen on it. Tsunade took the tray as Hinata sat down next to Naruto, and then the Hokage put the tray down in front of them.

"We'll talk about it later, gaki," Tsunade said, turning to leave. "And we'll be packing up the camp soon to return to Konoha, so get ready as soon as you're finished eating."

Once she was gone, Naruto sighed while grabbing his bowl of ramen. Hinata took her bowl as well, but before she took a bite, she asked, "W-What does Tsunade-sama want to talk to you about, Naruto-kun?"

The aforementioned boy paused mid-slurp and looked at her. Gulping down his bite, he blushed lightly and looked away. "She wants to discuss how me and Sasuke won the war..."

"O-Oh," was all Hinata could say as her own face reddened at the memory. But then suddenly she was angry and voiced her thoughts aloud. "What? Why? What you and Sasuke-san did saved the world, so why does she and Sakura-san keep getting mad about it?"

Naruto looked at her in surprise. _"Hinata-chan's mad? Wow. This is definitely rare."_ In response to her small outburst, he said, "Well, they've always had a problem with anything perverted, so I can't say I'm surprised."

Hinata swallowed her food before she replied, "But in this case, it just seems pointless. They act like you were just making a perverted joke rather than saving the world when nothing else was working."

"Yeah, I know," the blonde mumbled with a nod, looking down at his food. After a moment's pause, he asked in a quiet voice, "Hinata-chan? Do you think I'm a pervert?"

"No, I don't, Naruto-kun," the Hyuuga princess answered without even a millisecond's pause.

"Really?" He met her gaze with wide, hopeful eyes.

"Really," she assured him with a smile on her face that was kind and full of love. "You're a prankster, not a pervert. And I've heard about a few incidents where you got Jiraiya-sama in trouble for his 'research'. I don't think you'd have done that if you were a pervert."

"Yeah, you're right about that," Naruto said with a chuckle as he remembered his old sensei. "He tried to get me to do 'research' with him more than once. He never did understand why I wouldn't." Wrapping an arm around the blue-haired girl, Naruto hugged her close. "Thanks, Hinata-hime."

She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. "Anytime, Naruto-kun." She felt Naruto about to pull his arm back, and she grabbed his hand and held it on her shoulder. Without looking at him, she asked, "Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah, Hinata-chan? Is something wrong?"

"No, I-I was just w-wondering..." she trailed off.

Naruto, concerned about what was making her nervous enough to bring back her stutter again, put his bowl down and turned her face with his free hand to look into her eyes. "Hinata-chan, whatever it is, you can ask me."

Feeling encouraged, the quiet girl continued on, "W-Well, I was just wondering...what we are now."

"You mean you and me?" he inquired, and she just nodded.

The blonde let out a small chuckle and said, "I guess I should officially ask you, huh?" Looking deep into her lavender eyes with a completely serious expression, Naruto asked, "Hinata-chan, will you be my girlfriend?"

"YES!" she shouted as she hugged him tight, tears of joy starting to flow from her eyes. Despite his shock at her out-of-character response, Naruto smiled happily and hugged her back.

Several minutes passed as the two embraced before they decided that they should probably finish off their quickly cooling ramen.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

A couple hours later, the camps had all been packed up, and the Allied Forces of the Fourth Great Shinobi War went their separate ways, each ninja returning to his/her own country. Before they separated, however, the leaders of each country signed a treaty, agreeing to maintain the newfound peace between the nations. No one wanted a Fifth Great Shinobi War.

And oddly enough, Suna, Kumo, and surprisingly Iwa as well made a certain stipulation on the treaty concerning a certain blonde hero and his future status as Hokage. But he wouldn't find out about that yet.

The Konoha shinobi made their way home at a walk, since most of them were still rather injured, exhausted, or both. Normally, Naruto would've hated to travel at such a slow pace, but now that he had a beautiful girl holding his hand and leaning her head on his shoulder as they walked, he found himself rather enjoying the fact that the trip would take longer. And to make things even better, his best friend was walking next to him on his other side. The friend Naruto had vowed to bring back to Konoha, the person whom Naruto had nearly killed himself for numerous times, was finally coming back home and of his own free will too. Because of Sasuke's role in defeating Madara, the other nations decided to let Konoha handle their own missing-nin, and Konoha was willing to be lenient.

Naruto found himself more than once beaming at Sasuke because he was so happy that his best friend and brother was coming home. Meanwhile Sasuke, even though he was pretty sure of the reason Naruto kept smiling at him, was getting really annoyed by it.

After what had to have been the fiftieth time, the former missing-nin couldn't take it anymore. "What, dobe?! Why do you keep smiling at me?!" he shouted at his friend.

Naruto just laughed at him. "Sorry, Sasuke. I forgot you're allergic to happiness and people actually being glad to see you."

"Shut up, dobe," Sasuke said with a smirk. "I seem to recall laughing my ass off at you yesterday without a problem."

"How can you laugh yourself off, teme?" Naruto quipped.

"Ha. Ha. Oh, that was so funny," the black-haired ninja retorted sarcastically. "Is that the best comeback the Number One Prankster can come up with?"

"Pff. Just wait 'til we get home. Your house is gonna be a realm of nightmares with all the pranks I have planned for you," Naruto threatened.

"Hmph. Yeah, right," Sasuke scoffed, but he couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine. _"Why do I feel like I just unleashed a monster?"_

"Oh yes, Sasuke!" Naruto shouted with a frightening glint in his eyes as he slapped his free hand down on Sasuke's shoulder. "We're gonna have so much fun when we get back. Mwahahahaha!"

All the annoyance left Sasuke's body and was replaced by fear as he didn't think for a second that Naruto was bluffing. But Sakura came to his defense with a punch to Naruto's head.

"Naruto! Leave Sasuke-kun alone!" she yelled.

"Ow! C'mon, Sakura-chan! We're just joking!" Naruto protested as he looked over his shoulder at the pinkette walking behind him and Sasuke.

"Well, you're taking it too far!" Sakura shouted back while shaking her fist at him. But before she could say anymore, a chill ran down her spine, and she noticed a pair of lavender eyes staring at her with their Byakugan activated.

Hinata glared at the pinkette and said flatly, "Sakura-san, I would appreciate it if you refrained from striking my boyfriend ever again."

Sakura was about to argue, but then Hinata's glare hardened further, causing the pinkette to shut her mouth and just nod.

"Good," Hinata said as she deactivated her Byakugan and faced forward again.

Naruto beamed at his girlfriend and squeezed her hand, and Sasuke found himself quite impressed with the bluenette's ability to silence his former teammate. At the same time, though, he couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Sakura—she got her head bit off for trying to defend him. He slowed until he was walking alongside the pinkette, but didn't say anything right away.

Naruto freed his hand from Hinata's grasp so he could put his arm around her and pull her close. She in turn wrapped her arm around his waist while laying her head on his shoulder again.

Leaning down so his mouth was next to her ear, Naruto whispered, "Thanks, Hinata-hime."

"Anytime, Naruto-kun," she replied while nuzzling his shoulder.

As the new couple walked further ahead, Sasuke glanced at Sakura and asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah," Sakura replied, though her voice was quiet and sad. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Hmm. Well, Hinata did kinda bite your head off just now," he said simply.

Sakura sighed. "Yeah, but I get why she did. She's wanted to be with Naruto for so long, and so she's going to be a bit defensive of him."

"Heh. Guess that makes it a bit hard for you then with your tendency to hit him over the head," Sasuke smirked.

Sakura hung her pink head in sadness. "Am I really that bad? I didn't think I did that to him _that_ often."

"Sakura, are you kidding me? Just about everything he's ever said around you has gotten him your fist to his head. Or you yelling at him at least," Sasuke replied with an incredulous look.

"Like you're one to talk!" Sakura retorted defensively. "Who's the one who tried to kill him at the Valley of the End? Or in the Land of Iron?"

"I'm not about to deny what I did, and I intend to spend my life trying to make it up to him. I was too blinded by my hate for my older brother—and then the village that sacrificed him—to see that I had a little brother trying to save me all along," Sasuke told her sincerely. "But in a way, you're almost as guilty as I am. Naruto had a crush on you, and I heard you begged him to bring me back when I left. Can you imagine how that made him feel?"

Sakura didn't have to imagine it—she'd seen the pain her actions caused in his eyes a split second before he put his fake smile on and promised to bring Sasuke back. And she saw that same pain again when he saw her come into his hospital room after he'd failed. She had basically pulled his heart from his chest and stomped on it right in front of him.

"You're right," the pinkette admitted. "I've considered him my best friend for a long time, and yet I was completely inconsiderate of his feelings." Tears started to make their way down her face. "I need to make it up to him."

Sasuke nodded and said, "Well, speaking as someone who's in the same boat more or less, I understand how you feel. What say you and I work together on this?" He gave her a small but genuine smile.

Sakura looked up at him in surprise. "S-Sasuke-kun? Are you sure _you're _feeling okay?"

His smile faded a bit as he raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"Well, it's just you're usually not this nice. And to hear you pretty much say you're sorry for what you've done is...weird," she explained.

Sasuke sighed. "Hn. I was kind of a jerk, wasn't I?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that..."

"I would. And I doubt that'll stop completely. But since I've let go of my hatred, it's been easier for me to be nice," he told her.

"Hmm. Well, I like it. I always knew there was a sweeter side of you," Sakura teased.

Sasuke blushed and tried to cover his embarrassment with a scowl as he growled, "No, I'm not. 'Sweet' is not a word that is to _ever_ be used when describing me!"

Sakura just giggled at his behavior. "Whatever you say, Sasuke-kun."

He crossed his arms and looked away from her, but couldn't stop himself from glancing at her every now and then as they walked in silence.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The Konoha shinobi stopped for a rest a few hours later, and Naruto and Hinata ate lunch together and just enjoyed each other's company. They were interrupted, however, when Rock Lee approached them. He didn't look happy.

"Naruto-kun!" Lee called the blonde ninja's attention as he walked over to him.

"Hey, Lee! What's up?" Naruto replied as he got to his feet.

"I wish to speak with you about your victory against Madara," Lee told him. "Or more specifically, how you defeated him."

Naruto mentally sighed—he knew this was coming eventually—but outwardly he just gestured for Lee to continue as he crossed his arms. "Yeah?"

"Naruto, that was a most unyouthful display! Why did you choose to mock Guy-sensei and myself like that?!" the handsome beast of Konoha yelled angrily.

"Hey, hey! Calm down, Lee. I can explain!" the blonde ninja said as he waved his hands in a placating gesture. Lee folded his arms, and Naruto thought quickly. "It wasn't an 'unyouthful' display! It was _very_ youthful!" he told him.

"How so?"

"Well, think about it—that thing you and Super Brows-sensei do is supposed to be your biggest display of youthfulness, right? Well, it's much more so with you guys in swimwear! I mean only those who feel really youthful go swimming at the beach, right? So I was just making the scene more youthful!" Naruto lied through his teeth.

_"Naruto-kun...I feel like I need boots just to listen to you,"_ Hinata thought as she suppressed the urge to roll her eyes.

"Hmm. You are right about that, Naruto-kun. But why choose to use that on Madara?" Lee asked, now considerably calmer.

Hinata stared in disbelief. _"He's actually buying it?!"_

"Well, Madara was like the oldest guy we've ever encountered, so I figured a massive display of youth would be the best weapon against him," Naruto explained. _"Oh man, I can't believe he's buying this!"_

"Ah! That makes sense! I understand perfectly now, Naruto-kun. I apologize for doubting your reasons!" Lee declared as he clapped a hand on the blonde ninja's shoulder.

"N-No problem, Lee. Don't worry about it," Naruto said, feeling mildly guilty. But then he had another idea to make Lee feel even better. "And think about it! You and Super Brows-sensei had a hand in taking down the most powerful ninja anyone's ever faced!"

Lee looked momentarily surprised before pumping his fist in the air. "YOSH! You are right, Naruto-kun! And our Power of Youth will go down in history as the instrument by which you and Sasuke-san saved the world!"

Sasuke, who was sitting a ways away but still close enough to hear, cringed and face-palmed at that. But Naruto shouted, "Yeah!" with a thumbs up and a grin.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun! You are truly a great friend!" Lee told him happily. "But now I must get back to Guy-sensei. He is still recovering. Thank you again for healing him." He bowed.

"No problem, Lee. Tell Super Brows-sensei I say hi," Naruto smiled.

Lee nodded, saluted, and ran off. Naruto sat back down beside Hinata and sighed. "Man, I feel like such a jerk now. I can't believe I lied to him like that," the blonde said sadly. "I really slung a lot of bull there."

Hinata giggled slightly and hugged his arm. "Don't worry about it, Naruto-kun. You didn't want to hurt his feelings, and you are right about him and Guy-sensei having a hand in helping you and Sasuke-san defeat Madara."

"Thanks, Hinata-chan." He wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

As she leaned her head against his chest, Hinata said, "Naruto-kun? If I may ask, why did you choose to do that against Madara? I'm curious."

"You mean, how did I come up with the idea?" he asked, and she nodded. "Well, it started with Sasuke's pointing out the obvious—that we needed to take out Madara's eyes. That made me think the best way to do that would be with some horrible image that would make him at least shut his eyes." Naruto chuckled. "Didn't expect him to start tearing at his eyes, though. Hahahaha." Becoming serious again, he continued, "But to be the most effective—not to mention keep Madara distracted enough that he didn't kill me and Sasuke before we could pull it off—we needed to do something else to get his full attention.

"Most old guys I've ever met are perverts to some degree, so I figured since Madara was the oldest guy we've ever met, he had to be the biggest pervert of them all! Which is where the use of the Sexy Jutsu came in." Naruto blushed and scratched his cheek, and Hinata turned red at the memory as well. Naruto cleared his throat. "Anyway, once we had his attention, that's where the 'Most Horrible Image I Could Think Of' came into play—chosen for the fact that said image has blinded so many others, including myself, in the past. I just had to make it slightly worse." Hinata giggled, and Naruto concluded, "And there you have it. The defeat of the worst threat any of us has ever seen in two simple steps. Not that I wanna brag." He and Hinata shared a laugh.

Sasuke, from where he was watching them, smiled. He had wondered what Naruto's reasoning for his plan was, but hadn't had a chance to ask. At the time the blonde ninja outlined the plan, Sasuke just decided to trust Naruto and go with it. After all, nothing else they tried was working. _"And I'm really glad it worked,"_ Sasuke thought. _"I can't shake the feeling that we dodged a serious bullet. Like something worse than Madara could've happened if we hadn't taken him down when we did."_

He was pulled from his thoughts as Sakura came back from tending to the wounded. She sat next to him and shared some food with him.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Meanwhile, back at the now-empty battleground, Black Zetsu crawled out from under some rocks. Its plan had been completely ruined. Originally, Black Zetsu had intended to sneak-attack Madara, absorb him, and become Kaguya—the mother of the Sage of Six Paths. But the plan was ruined when Naruto and Sasuke kept Madara moving with their constant attacks, making Black Zetsu unable to get close. Then the shockwave from their final attack had buried the creature underneath a large mound of rocks.

As it stood there shakily, it looked up at the moon and growled, "I will kill those two. I'll absorb their power and complete my plan, but no matter what, I will eliminate them once and for all."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

To be continued eventually. :)


End file.
